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Monthly Archives: May 2008

Aleks Jakulin has a really interesting page on political data mining. Not so much on the subject itself, but just some really intersting graphics on Senate votes in the US from what I assume is the 2003 roll. One interesting point is that Senator Kerry screws up a lot of the data for having been…

I’ve never seen Sex and the City, and I have no plans to see the movie. But it’s a cultural phenomenon, and so I have been reading articles about it here and there. In one by Kathryn Lopez, I stumbled across what may be one of the best, most concise statements of my complaints with…

Well, well. You know all those arguments that legalizing prostitution would lead to some kind of explosion in the rates? Not true in New Zealand, where “a comparison between the number of sex workers in Christchurch in 1999, before decriminalisation, and 2006 – after the act was passed – showed the total had stayed about…

For all the demographics geeks out there, a map of only the roads in the US. Which is to say: in most parts of the east, the roads are so dense that that part of the country is generally dark, whereas in the west it’s all open. Interesting points are that some geographical features emerge…

The Wright controversy expands beyond Rev. Wright. Now even guest preachers at Obama’s not-at-all-former church are being caught on film spouting hatred. No doubt the geniuses at Language Log will cite this as further evidence that there’s nothing to see here because, you know, it’s all in the past and stuff.

Today’s example of government bullying gun owners comes from Toronto, where the mayor is on a mission from God to ban guns everywhere. In this case, he’s managed to seize a law-abiding citizen’s gun stash on the premise that the guns were “improperly stored.” Now how, one wonders, do the police know that guns being…

Cool i09 internet poll for the week is When did Battlestar Jump the Shark?. My favorite part is that that’s a “when” with no “if ever” hedge. “Never jumped” isn’t even on the choices list. At the time of writing, the pole position commenter begs to differ. But come now, that show jumped! Anyone who…

Attaboy, George! George Will has another excellent column out today echoing things I have said (main difference: people read Will) about McCain’s superficially appealing but ultimately goofy idea of appearing before Congress in a Westminster-style Prime Minister’s Questions with the legislature. Will covers all the points I did, but then tells me something I didn’t…

If This is to be believed, the Tesla Motor Company will be introducing a $98,000 all-electric sportscar soon – possibly next year. Some circles claim that it will run at an average cost of $0.01/mile, do 0-60 in 4 seconds, and require only 3.5 hours to charge (though not from a standard wall socket –…